Hey, good afternoon. I'll call the meeting to order. I'm D. Um, our chair, uh, select board member Moren is on her way, so she's running a little behind. I'll get the meeting started and until she gets here. So, select board
member T, can you guide us in the pledge of allegiance? >> Sure. >> I pledge algiance to the flag, United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Thank you. And I also mentioned that select board member Bean is not going to be able to join us today. So, >> it's just us. >> Just us. Okay. >> Uh, Madame Cler, could you please um read
the agenda items for me? >> Sure. Uh, approval of the minutes of April 21st, 2026. >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Any discussions? All those in favor say I. >> I. Oppose. None. Carries. 30.
>> New public business. Please limit comments to three minutes or fewer. So this is the time if there anyone who has a comment questions you just want to raise your hand and anyone >> here I'm afraid of
>> okay perfect >> the the board will consider endorsement of town manager appointments to the conservation commission in accordance with uh MGL chapter 40 section 8C. >> Thank you. Uh town manager.
>> Sure. think about that. >> Yes. Um I shared with you, thank you very much. Um I shared with you a memo and um what we call the talent pool forms for two candidates um to join the conservation commission as alternates. They're both here tonight. Um Andrew
McNelte um who is sitting right here in front of us and Michael McCarthy who's sitting in the back. So if you have a few questions, um this is a town manager appointment with a select board approval. >> Okay. Um, board member, any questions? Select
board member Bennett. >> Um, yes. Thank you. I appreciate both of you gentlemen being here. It's very important that we get to see the face with the name, especially if we're going to approve you to be appointed to a um an important position in town. All the
positions that are appointed are important, by the way. um on the two different applications. Um one of them um a lot of training, a lot of experience, prior community um involvement.
Very nice to see. Um frankly, the other resume is rather thin is in my opinion. Um, I'm glad that they've been serving on the river committee, but I don't see anything else for in the way of background. So, I'll
consider like to hear what my other fellow board members say. >> And he's here if you'd like to hear from him. >> Well, I know they're here. >> Okay. >> I mean, perhaps if um Mr. McCathy has something more to add to
his resume, I would hear it. >> So, I'll have uh Mr. Matti. Um, and I know him from the river committee. Very active member there. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Happy to answer any questions, tell you a little bit about myself, which might
might help fill in some of the gaps. >> So, um, I have been a longtime Danvers, grew up in Danvers, um, as a as a kid. Actually, uh, rode the river when parents would let you do this at age
eight. um in a raft uh to my father's marina. He actually bought Bray Woodworking which was uh a a building lumberyard and he created a marina which resides still
beside Pope's Landing. So my father was Bernie McCarthy, spent a lot of time on the river, had the opportunity to grow up on the river and so um it's been a part of who I am. I uh even uh through
high school and into college um I learned how to dive. I would walk down the end of Brad Street Avenue. I would walk through the mud and uh would go off and dive and find wrecks. Treasure hunting has been a part of my hobby. So
I've spent 700 dives underneath the water. And I'm very familiar with the Damas rivers as well because I learned in the Danvers River. I've seen the changes that have occurred in the river. I was there while 5 mph marker was far
closer in when you could go fast and we would water ski through what was blue, red or green foam. Turns out that this was the um runoff from Crease and Cook that was in the river uh that we as kids
water skied through. So um in one of the meetings I went to, I found out that the offflow of that Crease and Cook was arsenic which would sink directly into the mud right there at Crease and Cook. But Cry and Cook as you know was a
tannery and that tannery uh would have been the only tannery that wouldn't have used tetrachlorylene tce and that binds itself to a polymer which floats and so it's likely that as a kid myself and many other Damas
residents were probably impacted by that as well as our water, our mud and everything that goes on. I would never want to see something like that again. I have a passion for this river. I think that's extreme. I believe that we have something that is a gem that we should
all be extraordinarily proud of and we should make it something that we we can show off to people. We should have it clean and we should have the constituents of Danvers be able to swim in it and spend the time that I did in
that river and learn how to swim, maybe learn how to dive, you know, maybe even fish and and the things that we did in the simpler days when it wasn't as complicated, but you could spend time getting to know other family members. I
have a passion for that. Well, my resume doesn't show these things. I had a 20-year career committed to IBM Corporation. Learned how to be a data analyst and an artificial intelligence expert. I can run all kinds of numbers and I've done an extraordinary amount
already with um my spare time. Every day is Saturday. I'm retired. I retired in August and I have to tell you excited. Thank you. Um, so I'd like to I'd like to spend my time um representing um
Danvers and our waterfront and its importance to this community. >> Thank you, Michael. It's good to hear about your passion. Appreciate it. Maybe Andrew would like to say a few words just uh tell us about himself. >> Hello, I'm Andrew McNelte. I also grew
up here in Danvers. I am currently a wetland and soil scientist for Lucas Environmental. Uh they're based in Quincy. Um my professional background has been as an environmental scientist. I've sat in on many conservation commission meetings across the state.
I've um submitted a number of applications um and seen the process go through uh a number of times. I'm a licensed professional wetland scientist and also a soil scientist. Um so I think I could bring a very good technical
background to the town. And although I am definitely passionate about um conservation and and nature, I do also understand the importance of um just applying the regulations uh in a way that's fair. And so that's what I've seen in the past and that's what I hope
to help out with on on this committee. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thank you so much uh select board member to ask. >> I just want to say I am very impressed with uh Mr. McNeltey's uh resume uh credentials. I know uh M from uh being
on the u uh Mr. McCathy from being on the river committee so many years. I know he's passionate about protecting the riverfront, the the rip wrap, the dredging uh the dredging spoils and how those will play in the upcoming years as well. So, I'm happy to uh support both
the candidates. >> Thank you. And I do support both the candidates as well. Um it says right on our talent pool application, volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but
when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in. So, thank you for your service. Uh, this does not require a vote. Is that correct? >> No, no, you do need to vote. It >> says a board approval. So, >> yeah, I do.
>> So, I need a motion. >> I move we accept the recommendation of the town manager and appoint the two commissioners. >> I'll second. >> Any discussions? All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Three none. >> Perfect. >> If I may, Mr. Chair, I just want to
update you because u member Bennett, thank you for your feedback. the that we are updating the town pool form because it does not clearly reflect obviously the work of the people who are applying. It's pretty brief. Um and I don't and I don't want to push them to do additional work once we have it. So your packets will be more full in the future.
>> Good. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Ready. >> Thanks. >> The board is in receipt of an application by Christopher P. Chingis for reappointment as a civil constable in the town of Danverse. >> Okay. Um,
>> he's here this evening. >> We Okay, sure. If you want to just go, Madame Town Manager, can you speak to this? >> I think Madame Clerk can probably speak better to how she uses the constable, how important the constable is to this community. >> In your package, you received um the
letter by Mr. Chingis as well as um the requirements for uh constable and he has his application is complete and has provided all the materials. >> Okay, perfect. So, anything you would like to say for the people watching at home and for us
here? >> No. Uh, I've been a constable in in the town since 2008. Uh, I know you have a limited list of people uh or appointment slots and um I would appreciate another uh another three-year um term.
>> Thank you. Uh questions from the board. Senate board member Gardner. Uh, no, the paperwork is quite thorough and I appreciate the explanation of uh uh the constable's roles and responsibilities in town and um happy for the letters of
support from the chief and others. So, I'm fine. Thank you. >> Member Bennett. >> No, G says there's plenty of letters of references endorsing him and that's fine with me. Thank you. >> Perfect. And I'm okay with that as well. I'll need a motion. >> I move we reappoint as a civil constable
for the town of Davis, Christopher P. Chas second. >> Any discussions? All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Three nothing. >> Thank you. >> Thank you board. Thank you. >> Thank you for your service. >> Thank you. >> The board will consider the application
of Kristen Clark, 25 Berry Street for a firsttime block party on Thursday, May 21st, 2026, 400 p.m. to 10 p.m. in front of 26 Berry Street. >> Who is here? >> Speak. Sure. Can you just give us a little
information about what this is? >> Hi, I'm Kristen Clark. It's actually 25 Berry Street. >> The address was wrong. >> Okay. Sorry. >> That's okay. >> It says 25 Berry Street. Yes. >> Okay. Okay. >> We've spoken to our neighbors. Everybody
is in favor of us closing down the small area between Barry Street and Alden Street in addition to our driveway. There's only two other driveways that are impacted in that area. The neighbors are in support of it. My daughter is graduating from college. We have a small
piece of property and we were just hopeful to have a little bit of extra space that evening. >> Okay. Uh Madame Clerk, is the paperwork in order? >> The paperwork is in order. >> Perfect. Uh, Select Board Member Bennett, any questions? >> I do. Um, did you say it's a graduation
from college? >> It is. >> So, I'll assume there's no bouncy moon things. >> No bouncy houses. >> Thank you. Because if you did have them, they could not be on the public way >> for sure. Yeah. Those days are past us. >> Okay. Very good. Thank you. That's it.
>> Member to ask. >> No questions. >> Okay. Um, I need a >> motion to approve the first time block party Thursday, May 21, 4 to 10 in front of 25 Berry Street.
>> Mhm. >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussions? All those in favor say I. I. >> Congratulations. Good luck. >> Good luck. >> Thank you very much. >> Congratulations to your daughter as well. >> Thank you. Boy, we move fast with only three
members up here. >> A public hearing will be held on the application of Amazing Pizza DBA Fields Kitchen at 12 Chiever Street inside the Polish Club. Jacqueline Field, owner for a common victual license at that location.
>> Uh he's here to speak to that. She's >> perfect. >> Before we proceed, uh Mr. Chair to the clerk, um I'm a member of the Polish Club. I'm not an officer. I'm not a uh ethnic member. I'm just a social member
just for clarifi for disclosure purposes >> and purchasing from her. >> I too a I a member not an ethnic member door or an officer and feel I can vote on this. It doesn't enrich me personally. So >> So you both think you can be impartial?
>> It depends on the pizza. I don't know how good it is. >> Thank you for the disclaimer. Uh, so what what is happening here? Can you just >> um if my name is Jackie Field um I am the chef in this new kitchen at the
Polish Club. Um I've been a chef for over 45 years and I actually have a sample of my menu if I may approach the board if you'd like to look at it. Sure. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
Is this for us to keep? >> We give them back. >> We'll give them back. >> My own personal menu for the restaurant. >> Okay. Uh, Madame Clerk, is the paperwork in order? >> The paperwork is in order. Thank you. >> Um,
>> can we ask for a little background? not only her but what's going on with the Polish club that she may or may not know. >> Call on you for any questions you have. Member Bennett. >> So um the president of the club, Paul Murray, had been a guest of mine for
quite some time and approached me um to do the kitchen at the Polish club. Um I guess the word is out that I'm going in and everyone seems to be really excited. Um there's been a need for the kitchen to reopen for quite some time. Um, my
background comes from my mom. She taught me how to cook at a young age. Um, we made everything from scratch. We had a huge family and I became very interested in the culinary world. So, I decided to go into the restaurant business and
learn. Um, I studied with chefs from all over South America and all over Europe, mainly in Italy. Uh my menu, this one for Fields Kitchen for the Polish Club is a little different than amazing pizza. Um it's focused more with the
members in mind and their needs. So you'll see a lot of appetizers and salads and sandwiches. Um it's not focused just on pizza like my place on Pickering Warf in Salem, although I do have a lot of pasta and sandwiches and salads and appetizers there as well. But
um my passion is in food and culinary arts. Um I cook with a lot of high-end quality ingredients and um I love to nourish people and that's really about it. That's my background. I've been in the business since I was really young
and I'm excited to do the Polish club. I think people are going to really love the menu and love the food and I'll be well received. >> No, I'm good. >> Yep. >> Remember to ask, >> what days and hours will you be open? Paul Murray actually apologized for not being able to come tonight. He was
planning on meeting me here, >> but the parking lot is being um paved, >> resurfaced, >> resurfaced, and um the folks want to do it a week ahead of time. So, we had to go to the club to make sure there weren't any functions and uh put any
band-aids on things. So, um, he asked me to be there Thursday through Sunday from 4:00 to 9, >> right? >> So, we're going to just start with that. >> Are you good? I have no other questions. Thank you. >> Okay. And this is only for the members
of the club or can I just walk in and it's not like an ordinary? >> It's a membership. >> Okay. >> So, you have to be a member to enjoy my cuisine >> or you can join.
No. Okay. This is >> Oh, yeah. We have sponsor sponsorship. Yes. >> Oh, perfect. Good to know. Uh, this is a public hearing. Um, so is there any questions for any members of the public? >> I move we close the public hearing. >> Second. >> All those in favor say I. I.
>> I. >> Okay. I need a motion. >> Before we make a motion, I just like to be clear. Um she's coming coming in and operating in the kitchen, preparing the food, serving it, collecting the funds. It's not the Polish club itself is not
doing anything other than providing her with space. >> Correct. >> Correct. That is correct, sir. >> Right. Just so it's clear the to the public. And yes, there are memberships available at the Polish Club. If anybody's interested, come down, tell them Dan sent you, and we get you the
paperwork. My entire family is joining the club now. >> Just because they can't find parking on Pickering Worth, they're like, "Oh, we'll go to the club though." So, >> a motion that we approve uh the application of Amazing Pizza um inside
the Polish Club Jacqueline Field for the common vicular license at that location. >> Second motion. >> Any discussions? All those in favor say I. >> I oppose. Okay. Three nothing. Thank
you. Uh so I would be moving uh item seven. >> You want these back, Jacqueline? >> Sure. Thank you. >> Um it's my understanding that uh member TR is going to recuse himself from item seven.
>> Correct. U again under disclosure in this event I am one of the events that are listed here. I think I don't actually get paid for that uh directly. I I forego that in favor of the historical society. Um and so I am uh
but I think but that means we have and unless the town manager advises or town clerk advises us otherwise can the two members vote? >> No, that's fine. I'll move it until the madame chair gets here and then we will we will go back. >> So we're just going to table this until
I move we table this uh till a later point in the meeting. >> Are you okay with that? I'm I'm going to have a problem as vice president of the historic society. I'm here to support, but I won't vote.
>> So, even when Moren shows up, it'll be only two people voting. >> I I am I and I thought about that, Dan, and and I'll ask either the town clerk or the town manager uh through you, Mr. Chair. I obviously have a personal vested
interest in one of these events. It affects me. >> So I'm absolutely gonna recuse myself. Your participation you granting this doesn't enrich you. >> No. >> Um so I would I would leave it to the town manager to
>> Yeah. I would say the recuse one disclosure like you did with the Polish club. You're essentially just a member and you need to disclose that you can if you think you can make your >> a member here >> but you think you can make a decision fair and impartial and do you and do you the other the second question is do you
have do you stand you or a family member stand to find benefit financially from the vote? >> I do not. >> Okay then you can definitely vote no >> and we should certainly vote on the at least the two that um Gardner's not participating in. But you also disclosed
that you do not fin benefit financially or family member benefit financially. So I think I think you guys are okay. >> Okay. Fine. Thank you. Just clarify that. Okay. So we just need Morin. We'll be fine. So >> sorry Mr. George. You'll have to wait. >> That's okay.
>> So Madame Clerk. So we'll go to number eight. A public hearing will be held under chapter 138 of the general raw laws on the application of Mama Molton Inc. doing business as Panini Pizzeria one Maple Street Christopher Salvo owner for
a change of category from wines and malt beverages to an all alcohol beverage license at that location. >> Was he to speak to that? >> Good evening. Thank you very much. My name is Nancy McCann. I'm here on behalf of the applicant. With me tonight is
Christopher Salvo. He is uh the president and treasurer of Mama Molton, Inc. Uh doing business as Panini Pizzeria on Maple Street. Uh the board may recall back in 2016, this board granted a beer and wine license to Mr.
Salvo for uh for this restaurant and he's been operating for 10 years uh at the Maple Street location with the beer and wine license without any issue. Uh you may also recall that prior to moving to Maple Street, he operated in Danvers
for 9 years on Cherry Street. So he's been operating a restaurant in the downtown area for almost 20 years now without any incident. Um he would like the uh the opportunity to offer his customers um an all-cohol experience,
offer some additional options for beverages, cocktails, specialty cocktails uh to meet some uh requests and desires of his customers. So we are seeking tonight to change the category of the liquor license from beer and wine
to an all alcohol license. No other changes uh are proposed to the application. Um and we would be happy to answer any questions. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh Madame Clerk, is all the paper in order? >> The paperwork is in order. Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you. Uh member to ask. >> I have no questions. It's I I've been a patron of the of the uh restaurant and uh I have every uh uh I feel comfortable that you'll manage it in the same manner
uh as you do the wine and alcoh beer and wine license. Now >> thank you member Bennett. >> Thank you. Um well-run operation as Nancy said there's been no issues. Um, but just so the public is aware, there's
no serving or drinking of alcohol outside in front of your establishment because that's town property. >> Yes. >> So, you just have to be very careful of that. >> Signposted to um no one can bring beer or alcohol, >> right? No alcohol beyond this point.
Correct. Yeah. Thank you. That be diligent with that. Uh, now want to come from left field if I may. Do you have a dumpster? >> I do. Yeah, I have a dumpster. Yes. So, I'm not going to say it's you, but somebody downtown has their trash picked up 5:30 on Monday mornings,
>> okay? >> 6:30 on Fridays. The town bylaw says no rubbish pickup, commercial or residential, before 7:00 a.m. >> Okay. >> The responsibility is on the owner or landlord, the business owner, to enforce that with their parlers.
>> Okay? The police can find anybody that's found guilty. I just warn you that it's happening. I can't put eyes on who it is, but just uh be diligent with your haulers to make sure they're not picking up before 7
a.m., please. >> Yeah, we do a Tuesday. Every Tuesday afternoon they come pick up. >> Okay. So, you you're not the guilty person. Yeah, I don't think I'll make sure I can eliminate you guys one at a time till we find out. >> I'll make sure to reach out to him and let them know. Thank you.
>> Thank you. I'm all set. >> Okay. Uh I do not have a question at this moment. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone in the public who has a question? Hear none. >> Motion to close public hearing. >> Second.
>> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Okay. I will need a motion. I make a motion that we approve the ex the um increased liquor license to all alcoholic. >> I second the motion. >> Any further discussions?
>> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Okay. Three nothing. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Good luck. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Just the one spot, right? Just one spot to sign. >> Thank you. >> You ready to move on?
>> Yeah. >> A public hearing will be held under chapter 138 of the general laws on the application of Vishie Corp. Doing business as V Village village food shop 37 High Street Danverse Dashna Patel owner for a transfer of a package store
wine and malt beverage license to that location. The license was previously held by Newbridge Variety in Delhi at 9 Bridge Street. Okay. Was he here to speak to that? >> Uh, yes. Um, members of the select board, good evening. Uh, for the record,
I'm Robert Cornetta. Uh, I have a law office at 153 Andover Street in Danvers. I'm representing the Shiv Corporation tonight. The principal of that corporation is Dashna Patel, who is with me. Uh, Miss Patel is a resident of um,
Danvers. You're probably familiar with this site. It's at 37 High Street. It is a uh the village food mart. It has been there for a number of years. Uh this is an application for a malt and wine
package license only. Uh we have provided uh the information that has been required by the town in uh making out this uh application. Uh the premises would be utilizing a storage area in the
back of the first floor for purposes of uh uh storage of product. In addition to that, the uh premises has two uh entrances and exits in addition to an ADA uh access ramp. Um, a copy of the
town of Dandra's um, liquor guidelines has been um, subscribed to by uh, Mrs. uh, Miss Patel. You have a copy of uh, that um, in your uh, or in the package that was provided to the town. In
addition to that, uh, Miss Patel and our office have drafted a seven-page, uh, excuse me, a seven-point, uh, written policy regarding alcoholic beverage, uh, package sales, uh, so that there will be no issue or questions about any, uh,
violations that would uh, occur on site. In addition to that, of course, the regulatory notices that the town requires to be posted and maintained on the premises would in fact be maintained on the premises. All of the employees will be uh tips trained. Uh in addition to
that and I will provide it at the end of my uh remarks uh we have a uh petition signed by 351 persons mainly from Danvers who are in uh support of uh this uh retail uh
product being sold by package at that location for the convenience of the public. You're probably aware of the fact that uh this store has been uh in existence for a while. Uh in addition to being a convenience store, uh Miss Patel
also is a lottery agent and uh lottery uh products are sold uh on the premises. We have provided to uh the uh board through the application uh the financials as to how uh this uh
application will in fact be financed and that will be through a heliloc loan. Miss Patel intends to take out. The hours of operation are 6:00 a.m. to uh 11:00 p.m. on regular days, 7 to 9 on
holidays. Uh and yes, Miss Patel does have a dumpster and we will definitely notify them that uh there is to be no morning disturbance in terms of collection of refues um at that location. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. I don't like
repeating myself, so thank you. Very good. Uh, with that, um, if you have any questions, I would be happy to try and answer them for you. And we would respectfully ask your consideration for this transfer of license, which by the way is coming from
Nine Bridge over to 37 Highland, uh, excuse me, 37 High. >> Thank you for the information. Um, Madame Clerk, uh, the paperwork is in order. And I also understand there was a supplemental the paperwork is in order and there was
a a slight misunderstanding about the hours that the manager would be on site. She thought it was um per day rather than per week. So that um piece has been um >> correct >> resubmitted and corrected in the packet. >> And you also did get an alternate and we're working on a third alternate. Is
that correct? >> We're working on additional alternate. I believe that we are looking for one more tip certification from one of those people, but they're working on that. >> Perfect. Thank you. Uh board member, any questions? Member Bennett. >> Thank you. Yes. Um the hours are 6 to
11, but what are the hours for selling the alcohol? >> Uh we would anticipate that they would be uh probably the same hours where it's package or am I to be corrected? >> 8 to 11. >> 8 to 11. I am informed. >> 8 to 11. Yes. Yes sir. Sale of
>> um >> package product only beer and wine. >> It's it's a Daniel. >> What's that? Yeah. >> Okay. So, 8 to 11 and then 8 to 9 for sales on the holidays. >> On the holiday on weekend uh holidays.
>> Holidays. Okay. >> Yes. >> Um and we understand this is for to go only. >> Yes. >> Package package only. No product to be consumed on the premises. Uh Miss Patel also has uh closed circuit television in
the store. So to make sure that uh a there is no uh sales that are uh being broken open in the store and to be consumed there that would be an absolute no no and uh would not be tolerated. In addition to that uh obviously we're fully aware of the fact that uh the
issue of miners uh you cannot obviously uh purchase liquor and no one also can purchase it for them. Uh so we would be monitoring all of that by uh closed circuit television. >> Right. And and your location makes you a
little um subject to some kids maybe running in and trying to purchase while you're busy with the lottery tickets. And >> yes, >> so you're going to have to really be diligent. >> Yes. >> Um >> we are we will also have a bar scanner there for purposes of uh
>> uh protecting persons there. And uh the uh the layout is that the uh package product will be somewhat further to the back of the store so that uh the uh on-site manager at any given moment in time will be able
to physically monitor what is transpiring at at the location. >> Glad to hear that. Well, wish you good luck. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> member Task. Thank you. Uh just a couple of questions. You do understand why we were concerned. I've been in the store
and you do have the lottery seating area. It's a kind of a lounge for the lottery players. So, we were concerned that obviously some may take advantage purchase and consume, but I'm hearing you say that's you're not going to do that. I'm presuming all your clerks are over the age of 18. >> Yes.
>> Okay. Uh and liquor sales can start at 8:00 on weekdays and on Saturdays, but not until 10 on Sundays. So um and uh the and and thank I want to thank the clerk for uh following up. I did notice the uh number of hours and in the
discrepancy and thank you for the clarity. Um the third alternate Siobhan Patel. >> Yes. >> Um and is going to be certified is going to be certified. >> Okay. Um and because again you're open
120 hours a week. So, we want to make sure that you have our regulations say that at any point in time that the store is open, there has to be someone on this list in the store to ma to manage and monitor the sale. Um, if all of those
are going to be um covered, then I uh I don't think I have any further questions. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh this is a public hearing. Uh so, is there anyone in the public who has a question? Please uh if you can just go to the mic and introduce
yourself, please. >> Hi, my name is Benjamin Fornier. I've owned the condo over the store for about 20 years. My main concerns are the possible effect on property values for the people who live in this building because this building consists of eight units and only one is the store. Also,
the possibility of people drinking in the parking lot over the last 20 years. I haven't seen it recently, but I have seen empty bottles left in the parking lot. I'm concerned this could create a problem. I understand they're going to be looking for it. They're going to try, but these things do happen.
And those are my main concerns is that, you know, what how is this how is this going to play out for the people who actually live in this building because it's mostly residential and uh how diligently are we going to be on the public drinking? Now, I haven't seen
anything recently, and I can't I can't say who did what or when, but those are my concerns as someone who's lived in this town for many decades and lived in this particular home for 20 years. That's just basically what I wanted to say. >> Okay. >> Thank you.
>> Can you make a comment to that effect? >> You are the the applicant. >> No. Can I make >> If you Sure. Sure. >> No, I appreciate his concern about the public drinking in the parking lot. Um, I would just point out that would be the same concern at merchants or any other
uh store selling uh alcohol. >> Yeah, but not people who live >> sorry. Okay. >> Um, so I'm just saying it's it's a valid concern, but we frankly don't have an answer for that unless the owner wants to offer something.
>> Thank you. Any comments? I can offer uh the following and I and I I echo your u your comment that uh the possibility of that happening of course is can happen anywhere uh where liquor is uh available
uh on a retail basis. The uh saving character if you will for my client is the fact that number one uh she has a built-in clientele. uh people have frequented this uh establishment for many many years. Some
of them are senior citizens. uh she obviously values the clientele and uh in so far as drinking outside the store or in the parking area, uh Miss Patel andor the manager on site at the
time would be the first one to pick up the phone and dial 911 and uh uh seek to remedy that issue. uh it does not serve my client well in any way, shape or form to have persons consuming alcohol
outside that uh premises. The value that she u places on her um uh clientele is significant enough uh that you would want to protect them um at all times. >> Thank you.
>> Could I ask a clarif I didn't realize there was parking there. How how many public parking spots? because for the most part I thought parking was on the street and you certainly wouldn't sit in the street and drink. >> Right. >> There are two dedicated uh uh spaces on the side of the building. >> Okay. >> And the rest of it
>> I don't want to call it an alleyway but this okay >> and the rest of it is is street park. >> I and I appreciate the the gentleman's concerns. I don't think there's any way we can make a correlary between a business that sells alcohol and the property values of the surrounding area.
And I would think that uh the first remedy is if you see bottles and see things happening that you can either speak to the owner or you can call the police, you know, if but um as far as as weighing in on the decision I uh to
grant a liquor license, I couldn't uh I I couldn't uh I wouldn't be letting that sway me. The the potential is there. I appreciate it, but I think it's there anywhere you can purchase liquor. And yes, many of the places don't have a b have residence right there, but it's
still a possibility. So, >> Mr. ask also uh our office is located right in Danvers and I would I would uh state to the uh to the gentleman uh this evening that if there are any issues um
you could call our office because we're in constant contact with our client and if there's any issue like that you can rest assured that we would be taking it up with law enforcement to make sure that that wouldn't happen and if and if you like I can give you our contact information after the meeting.
Okay. Thank you. Uh any other Yes. >> And while uh you going to the mic, I would just notice that Madame Chair has just arrived and I will update her and say we're working on item number nine.
Um this is board members have asked questions and this is um given the fact that it's a public hearing we're now having questions from the members of the public. So >> and after that you can take over on 10. So >> yeah thank you. >> Go ahead.
>> Bill Brad Street town meeting member precinct one. I'm not a member of the board. I do know Miss Patel and I have full faith in what she wants to do. I would be voting if I were a member of the board.
I'm not, but I have full faith that she will do what she says she's going to do. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other Yes. >> Good evening. I am Andrea Kuawa. I have
been a resident of Danverse for about 28 years. I'm very proud to call myself a Danver resident. I do know Miss Patel. I have no vested interest in her business, but I frequent her store and I would
want the town to know as one of her frequent flyers that if I caught anybody drinking, you'd see me out there and you'd want to call the police on me. That's all I'm going to say. And rest
assured, I have children and I would even call her my own children. I have faith. But she has a very wellestablished clientele there. Her >> I Okay.
>> All right. Okay. Congratulations and good luck, Mrs. Patel. >> Thank you very much. I will present you with that petition 359. and also for all of the assistance that she gave us
very complicated kind >> Thank you. >> Thank you D. >> Madam chair you can take >> I am back and my apologies for being there. >> We actually did we move um seven we table seven. Okay.
>> Because um member TR was going to abstain. >> Okay. >> So if we can go back to seven >> and then the 10 after and then move on. >> Wonderful. >> Wonderful. Excellent.
>> Do you want me to I'll take over. The board will consider applications by Lewis George, event coordinator, Danis Historical Society, 11 Page Street for three 1-day wine and mullet licenses for the following events at Glenn Magna Farms on the following dates. Tuesday,
June 23rd, 5 to 8:00 p.m. Summer Music Beer Garden, rain, June 24th. Tuesday, July 21st, 5 to 8:00 p.m. Summer Music Beer Garden, rain date, July 22nd. Tuesday, August 25th, 5 to 8 PM. Summer
music, bear God and rain date, August 26. Hello, Louie. How are you? Thank you. >> Good evening. Good evening, Madam Chair. Good evening, members of the board. Uh my name is Louis George. I'm the president of the Danverse Historical Society. I'm also the event coordinator
for the um for the three um summer music beer gardens that are going to be uh that are scheduled to be held this coming summer. And this is an event that we've had now really now continuously since 2021 uh since 2021. And really the
whole idea of it was to sort of a pick up on what was previously done in years past of history hot dogs in harmony of using having an event a summer event at Glen Magna Farms uh and really to help people uh help residents of Danvers uh
and the surrounding communities get to know um get to know the Danvers Historical Society get to know Glen Magna Farms. And so during the course of these events, we've had um you know, we've had people coming from, you know, both from Danvers, people who come in
with their kids who are like live down the street as well as people coming from surrounding areas, people who who had their weddings there at Glen Magna years ago and those who are young couples who are just uh who are having their weddings coming up. And so we have for
the events on the first um uh beer garden schedule will be open mic. Uh the second will be a local band, Stroke of Luck. And for the third August beer garden will be the Decades of Rock. Uh so we'll have uh local beers, we'll have
Vinwood caterers who will be there. Uh they'll be we'll be selling um hot dogs and popcorn at a nominal price. We'll have snacks as well as non-alcoholic beverages. With respect to the um uh to the event itself, we will have a ID
check. Uh we we do a 100% ID check in terms of coming in regardless of how how old you are. It's like going to Fenway Park. So we check IDs for people coming in if they wish to drink. We do issue people wristbands uh as well. Those who are serving um the beer will be our
tipcertified. Um I'm tip certified as well. And so we've had the um happy to uh happy to answer any questions that the uh that the board might have, but this is part of our uh sort of kicking off to summer. We have a number of other
events uh that I that we we're going to be having this summer as well. And so um happy to talk about that as well, but happy to entertain any questions the board might have. >> Thank you. Um Dan, do you have questions? >> Thank you. Um I must disclose you weren't here earlier. We had a
discussion. I am vice president of the historic society. I receive no compensation for that. I have no financial interest in these events and I don't serve beer to anybody. >> So, but happy to listen to the application and vote if needed, but um I
can be impartial. >> Okay, great. Thank you, Dan. Ka, >> I am going to recuse myself and so I shouldn't ask questions. >> Okay, D. >> Uh I'm not a member. I go to events. Um, no questions. No.
>> All right. Well, I'm not a member either, but I'm familiar even with the Harmony and Hot Dogs, so it's kind of dating ourselves here. But, um, it's a great event. Um, you already went over that your tip certified, everything's in order. Um, I think it's it's a great, you know, I think everybody should
attend at least one of them. >> Yeah. >> And, uh, so we will have a vote for that. Um, do I have >> Is it public hearing? No >> public hearing. Oh, it's not a public hearing. So, I just say >> I I >> What would the madam clerk is everything in order with your
>> I would I the paperwork is in order, but member Bennett should vote if um member trans. Yes. Right. Okay. Thank you. I will right. >> Okay. So, we'll take a vote. >> I move that we accept the application as presented.
>> Okay. Do I have a second? I'll do a second. Second. Okay. All in favor? I opposed >> and abstained. Right. >> And madam chairman, if I may yes make mention the historic society welcomes all Danver residents to come and join
the society and we're also looking for people that really have an interest in the community to serve on our board of trustees. >> Again, you don't get paid. Um it's not heavy lifting, but we need x amount of trustees to run the organization. It's
not just the three properties that we're charged with maintaining. It's the collection at Tapley Hall. We have four member staff full-time. We have part-time staff. We have a part-time curator. Um we have a new gardener up at Glenn Magna. U there's a lot of
volunteer opportunities at the be a gardener work in the uh the collections. So I urge anybody with any interest in Davis history to to reach out to Laura at our office and the phone number is 9781666.
Please consider Thank you, >> Dan. Yeah. No, thank you. >> Yeah. >> Excellent. >> Great. >> Did I steal something your thunder away? I'm sorry. >> No, that's fine. M madam chair, may I see a few additional words as well? >> Absolutely. >> Just picking up on uh what Mr. Bennett said. Yes. The um Yeah. If anyone is
interested in participating in the events of the society uh we are and and if they would like to join we are really we are um you know it's a vibrant society we've really even um in terms of the whole genesis for the beer gardens was coming from our events committee in
which uh one of our uh Norah hulie was one of our know you know had the idea originally of of being um uh of let's do something that is sort of different and that's something to get people to you know who may not necessarily come to historic society functions to uh to to
get involved and to find out more about the society. And as Mr. Bennett mentioned, we have a number of events coming up as well. We do have our annual uh plant sale coming up at Glen Magna Farms. That's May 22nd and 23rd. Uh at our annual town meeting, we have a an
active Rev 250 committee commemorating the 250th uh anniversary of the of independence in which there will be a special vote with respect to seceding from the crown. Um and then on July 4th, we'll be involved as well with Representative Karns the
reading of the Declaration of Independence as well. So um we do have a number of events. So definitely check out the our website danversis.org or as well as as Dan mentioned our our telephone they can reach out to Laura Silly at 97877766
for any further details. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. You do a great job. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> All right. So item number 10. U Madame Cler just so >> that that applicant has withdrawn for the at this time and we'll resubmit when
they're ready. >> Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. And then let's see, we'll go to number 11. The board will discuss and potentially vote to authorize Danvas public schools to expend 750,000 from the special education stabilization
fund. And who is here? We have the pleasure of our wonderful superintendent of schools. >> Thank you for those kind words, Madam Chair. And uh thank you. Um this request is for a withdrawal of the special education stabilization fund. Uh this
has been approved by the school committee in April. Um and the amount is $750,000. And the purpose for this is that um this allows us to close our budget for this year. There were some unintended um changes to placements that
occurred outside of our budget planning for this current fiscal year. Um and that happens sometimes. Um I I try to be very careful to not identify you know cases specifically but just in general terms that um they're evaluations occur
on a regular basis. Uh and a few of these have led to increased needs and services that do move to residential placements. Uh there were two um again I'm trying to be careful not to identify but there were some residential situations on one scenario that we've
worked with our attorney that we are liable for funding this year but not next year. Um so these changes did occur outside of the the budget planning for this this particular year. So we respectfully request withdrawal from the
special education stabilization fund for 750,000. >> Okay. I have no questions. Thank you. I understand the uh nuance that you're trying to make, but people should understand that it's either students who receive IEPs or educational program uh
um reviews that may get may require more uh more help or support than they originally intended or people move in and out of town on a regular basis and that will have an effect. Um, so I appreciate that you can't budget and it
wasn't a lack of appropriate budgeting at the time that you did it a year ago. Um, it's the nature of the of of the school system and people the transients of it uh people coming in and out of town. So, I'm all set with this. Thank you. >> Thank you, Ghana Dan.
>> Thank you. Um, I understand the need for the 750. Um, but we're also taking a vote at the special town meeting to transfer a million dollars from free cash to the schools. >> What is that for? And why do you need
both? >> To be very simple, the uh cost for a typical residential placement is well over $250,000. And there are several that are considered. So the amount of placements to close the gap exceeds the
uh request of 750,000. So uh we need both. >> So the million is also for the same >> that is correct. Same purpose. >> So the actual amount needed is a million750. Um how much money will be left in this um education stabilization fund after this withdrawal?
>> Sorry, my my understanding is 500,000 >> will be left. >> Yes, that's correct. If I may, Madam Chair, to the manager, are we putting money into the stabilization fund this year? >> We did not put money into the stabilization with drawing it down, >> which is one of the reasons that um we
decided to limit the amount that we withdrew from stabilization and put uh the additional 1 million from free cash. We didn't want to zero out the balance. >> Thank you. >> You want to start there? >> Yep. >> Okay, D. So just just to clarify, so the
additional 1 million will be still to close this year or that will also cover some of next year >> that will help close this year. >> Okay. Yes. No other questions. >> Okay. All right, Dan. Um, thank you, Dan, for letting us know about that. Um,
do I have a motion? >> I move we accept the recommendation. Uh, I move we vote to authorize the public neighbor schools to expend $750,000 in the special education stabilization fund. >> Do I have a second? >> I second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. We appreciate your support. >> Madam Chair, if I may, can we take a two-minute recess so that the SCSD folks can get set up? Sure. And recognize that Representative Sally Karns has joined us um as well. Thank you.
Thank you. >> All right. The board will hear a presentation by South Essex Sewer District Michael Parsons, Chairman Sesd of Directors, and David Michaelelsson, executive director. Thank you. Welcome. >> Thank you. Thank you for having us
tonight. Um, as the madam chairman said, I'm Mike Parsons. I'm chairman of the board at South Essex. Uh we're a six member board. I'm the uh independent member, if you will. Steve King here is tonight. I'm sure you all recognize that Steve is the Danverse representative to
the board. Um Dave Michaelelsson is not here tonight. Uh his daughter is graduating from a college in Atlanta and he's down there celebrating that event. So um in his place we have our district engineer, Peter Palmershine.
And we also have our general counsel uh Kristen Kolick from the firm of Corenti Kolk in Salem. So our brief our message tonight is is really can be summarized by saying we face serious financial challenges at the
district and if they continue it will limit our ability to fulfill our mandate and provide adequate wastewater treatment. At the same time, we recognize the communities have many funding issues, uh, some very similar to ours, but we'd be remiss if we didn't bring them
forward at this point and work with the communities to come up with a reasonable solution. Um, and we recognize that it comes at a very high price tag. Uh, as you hear from my presentation, the district is looking for, uh, some level
of exemption from Proposition 2 and a half. We're currently subject to it um at this moment and we have been for quite a while. Um but we're looking for an exemption. We've made similar presentations to your uh state legislative delegation. Uh we
did one to a group of community leaders and we've in the last week and a half we've been in front of Pebb and Beverly. We're here tonight and we'll be speaking in Marblehead and Salem in the next week and a half. Um,
after that series of presentations, we'll be coming back in some form. I'm not sure quite yet what it is, looking for a resolution uh from your board in support of uh our request for financial assistance. Uh we don't have that
resolution at the moment. We're we're waiting to get feedback from each of these community meetings before we uh put that together. So on the next slide we have uh this is our agenda. Uh it's it's important to recognize that we have two very distinct
types of financial challenges. One deals with our operating budget and and the other deals with capital improvements. Uh the background of the capital improvements is that the plant was um renovated and expanded very significantly in the 90s 1990s so 30
years ago. And uh a lot of our equipment is now uh beyond its useful life, outdated, obsolete, and I'll get into that in a minute. And lastly, I'll talk about management's uh request for special legislation. Uh and we'll talk
about that very briefly at the end. Next, by way of background, and you may realize this, South Essex is really a wholesaler of wastewater treatment. We collect the wastewater from each of the member communities. Uh some smaller
contributions from Middleton and Wenham. Um and we in turn assess the cost of that treatment process conveyance and treatment process back to the community in the form of assessments. And what this chart shows is since 2000, the
total amount of the assessments to the member communities has remained essentially level uh at about $25 million. U and the reason that we've been been able to do that is that our operating budget, which is the middle line, um has
increased gradually within the constraints of Proposition 2 and a half. And at the same time, the debt service for that work in the 90s that I just mentioned, that debt was exempt from Proposition two and a half. And that debt declined over the same time period.
And when you add the bottom two lines together, you get the top line. And that's why it's been essentially level uh for over 25 years. So if I focus on operating costs first, the pie chart is uh our operating budget
for FY27 that was approved by the board in early April. The sector that I want to focus your attention on is the uh yellowish lower left hand corner section that represents over 40% of our budget and that is just
for operations expenses not labor just expenses covers uh electricity, natural gas, chemicals and the very significant item that it covers is residuals disposal. Residuals are the solids that
get produced by the treatment process at the plant. They're multiple treatment processes. They each produce solids. These residuals are all combined and we have a contract for transportation and disposal of them. And to give you a
sense of the magnitude of this issue, essentially every night, three tractor trailer loads of residuals get hauled out of out of our treatment plant for final disposal. Um it's a huge quantity. We currently spend about $4.5 million a
year on residuals disposal. Um that's out of our $26 million budget total, a very significant portion. We're currently in the last year, we will be in the last year of an 11-year contract
um for residuals disposal. It uh it was a five-year contract with three two-year renewals. it was indexed to the consumer price index which was in hindsight very favorable to the district. Um in the last five to eight years uh residuals
cost disposal costs have increased at about 7% a year. So we've made out very well but we know that uh since FY27 is our last year under the contract we'll have to rebid this in the fall or next winter sometime to help us prepare our
FY28 budget. We'll we'll be doing that a year from now. Um and we can expect based on market rates that the cost of sludge residuals disposal I call it sludge but residuals disposal will increase one and a half to$2 million. A
huge increase certainly nothing that we can afford to fit in under Proposition 2 and a half limitations. Thanks Peter. This chart also shows our operating budget. Uh the gradually increasing blue
line is the Proposition 2 and a half limit. Um I want to move right over to the FY28 stacked bar. The bottom the bottom the major portion of the bar are operating expenses subject to
Proposition 2 and a half. The orange section is some debt service that we have. that's not exempt from two and a half. We've done we've taken out some loans in the past, did one uh very recently through the state to do some very important repairs at the plant. And
so we have debt service that needs to be paid for under Proposition 2 and a half. And then historically, the top green section has been money available to make capital improvements at the plant for equipment that just we can't use any
longer. And what this uh FY28 bar shows that um our operating budget will pretty much equal the Proposition 2 and a half limit and we won't have any funds for debt service. But we know we can't do
that. We have to pay our debt. So without relief from Proposition 2 and a half um uh we will not have enough funds to adequately budget uh operations at the treatment plant next year next
fiscal year FY28. son Peter. Uh talking about uh capital needs, infrastructure needs, I I mentioned that top bullet line that we did the work 30 years ago. Uh as you can imagine, uh the equipment's 30 years
old. Our maintenance group is doing a terrific job maintaining it, but they find it more and more difficult to find replacement parts. Sometimes they can't. They sometimes they have to machine the parts. If you think about electronic controls, controls that existed 30 years
ago are obsolete today. The technology changes rapidly. Um, and we don't have the money in our budget to keep up with all the improvements and we need to come up with more efficient operating systems at the plant in order to try to further control
our costs. We've listed a few key projects um on the slide here. The one that um is of interest uh to Danvers, is of importance to Danvers and also to Beverly is the harbor crossing um that
takes the the flow from a a large pump station on Water Street in Beverly under the harbor over to Salem Willows. It's a single pipe. It's old. We know from investigating other pipelines in the district that it's nearing the end of
its useful life. It needs to be replaced probably with two pipes because redundancy is critically important these days. It wasn't considered that important when this pipe was installed and we can't do it without a form of debt relief from Proposition 2 and a
half. And there are many other projects that fall in a similar category. If we'll go to the next one, Peter. So about three years ago, we hired uh two consultants to help us plan the
district's uh needs for the next 20 years. Uh one consultant dealt with all the equipment and tankage inside our treatment plant site and the other dealt with all the major pipelines and pump stations that service the five communities.
They came up with a 20-year plan. We prioritized the work into four five-year periods that are listed here. priority group one through four. Um we're asking for uh debt relief for
groups one and two. Group one is $150 million, very expensive, and group two is even more expensive. These are all pieces of equipment or concrete tankage and pipelines within the plant that uh
we know from experience are either at the end of their life or very close to it. So in total we're looking as the bottom line shows we're looking for debt relief for $390 million. So to help us understand the impact on
community assessments and how to finance a project like this, we retain the services of the Collins Center. Uh you may be familiar with them. They work out of UMass Boston. Uh they provide uh municipal consulting services and in
this case we relied on their financial group to help us. They've come up with projections on assessment increases for each of the member communities. And what we show on this chart are their predictions for uh Danverse. I think to help put it in
perspective at the bottom of the chart on the left, you can see that your current FY27 assessment is about $4.7 million. Um just for the operating budget increase for FY28,
the increase to Danvers would be in the order of $350,000, increasing to $685,000 by FY32. Um very significant increases. Um, we're
looking at five, probably five, hopefully five to seven years of increases in our first request. And I'll get to that in a minute. And then if you look at the capital plan priority group one projects, the first five years we're
playing paying off bond anticipation notes. So the impact on your assessment would be about $115,000 a year. But once there's permanent financing, um it would jump to $1.4 million.
And the numbers for priority group two are also up there on the slide. So this highlights the need for grants. Um and with the exception of energy conservation grants through the uh electric utility companies, um there are
no grants for uh wastewater treatment improvements. Um uh there are loans. The state has a state revolving loan fund program that the district has used. Um that has been very advantageous. It's a
low interest rate program. Uh sometimes they uh wave some of the debt, but we're told that uh there's high competition for that program and reduce funding, so we shouldn't count on it. So, the Collins Center in their work um focused
mainly on a loan program that's operated by the federal EPA and general obligation bonds. So, if we go to special legislation, um I said we've needed relief from two and a half. Uh management at the
district has recommended to the board that the legislation include these four key items. >> The The first is uh to establish a budget a new budget ceiling um that
uh to accommodate the increases in costs that we have. And it takes it would take us from about $26 million as a budget ceiling under current two and a half limitations and move it to $30.5 million. That's $4.5 million. It's a
very big number, but if you think back to what we expect to see with residuals bidding next year at one and a half to$2 million, a good chunk of that's gone in the first year in addition to other
costs. and we're hoping to get five to seven years out of this $ four and a half million dollar increase um so that we're not back in front of um each of the member communities uh more frequently than that looking for money.
We're also looking for uh uh a debt exemption for the $390 million so that we can fund priority groups one and two. Uh we currently have a stabilization fund fully funded at $2 million and it's
by law it's capped at $2 million and we're looking to have that capping increased. Um we've had some emergency repairs at the plant. Uh some have approached $2 million in cost and one was $4 million. And fortunately, we were
working on a state funded project, a state state funded project through a loan. Um, and we were able to cover the $4 million in the loan. But if that happened two years ago, uh, certainly it could happen
again. So, we need to have the stabilization fund increased. And then lastly, uh, far less significant, our legislation was first written in 1925. if it's 100 years ago and there's certainly references in there that should be updated. Community
that has its own wastewater plant and uses an enterprise fund. Uh they're not subject to two and a half. So we're not asking for treatment that is different than some of many of the other facilities in the Commonwealth um
experience. So what are the consequences? Um I mentioned that with the new sludge bids we'll not be able to pull together a reasonable budget a year from now. Um if you look at how to cut our budget the operation staff the numbers are
quantified are established by the state. We have a minimum staffing plan and that's what we have at the district. our second biggest or next biggest um operating unit is maintenance. And to make cuts in maintenance when your equipment is aging out is is just not
the right thing to do. Um, and our industry certainly recognizes that if you delay repairs and delay replacements and incur emergency repairs, that in usually um ends up costing significantly
more than if you just uh proceeded and done the repair ahead of time. Um, so what's the result? And without getting too melodramatic, um it certainly at some point will be reduced plant reliability. I can't tell you what year it'll be, but it will
happen if we don't have funding, adequate funding. Uh we'll have permit violations. Uh certainly harmful water quality imp water quality impacts to Salem Sound. And then we've seen it happen in other
places. Uh there could be monetary penalties, fines, uh perhaps a federal uh uh consent order mandating a plan to get the district back into compliance. And we're trying to avoid all that. And
that's why we're looking for the community's help in um coming up with a path forward. Uh lastly, we had put together a timeline that we thought would get us in front of the state legislature
this year to consider this legislation. Um we're running out of time. Each step in the process has taken us considerably longer than we thought it would. Um that's not a surprise. These are significant issues. Um, we still hope to
make a filing this year if we can. Um, uh, so that's the schedule that we're looking at. As I said, we should be done with our community meetings in, uh, by the middle of May. And so with that, uh, I'll thank you for the opportunity to
speak here tonight. And if your, uh, evening allows it, we certainly willing to answer questions. >> Thank you very much. Um, right now there's no vote for this and this is just information right now. More information to come. The public um,
where can they find the information about this? >> On >> We have it on the website. >> On the website, right on our website. >> All right. Good. So, I'll open up to questions for the board members. Gardner. >> Sure. I do have some questions.
>> Thank you. Um, understandably the SCSD provides a valuable service for all the communities in the area and it's a service we pay for. >> Um, I read this I I I saw some preliminary information. I had some good fortune to speak to Stephen King uh and
ask some questions ahead of time so I could formulate uh some comments. And while you're asking for special legislation to allow you to borrow over the two and a half limits, the impact will be on the communities that you serve. It won't be on you other than the
ability to do what you want to do in a timely manner that you want to do it. Um you're constrained by two and a half. I can understand your need to ask for special legislation to forego some of that. I would absolutely not support as
a select board member myself relieving you of two and a half. Um I would want to see a plan that says how much you're going to be over two and a half and for how long. I want a defined number for a defined period of time. Uh we are Danverse is also subject the W is
not a good example for you. Their rates are astronomical and they have they don't have controls. We're fa fortunate not to be in their grasp. We are in the grasp of the Essex Tech who does not have guidelines for 2 and a half. They can go up as much as they want. And
again, they force that bill. Davis's uh Davis's um uh amount that pays as tech went up 12% this year. I think that two I I have my own issues with two and a half. It was it was a great idea in the 80s when it was passed, but it should be
prop cola or prop CPI uh or prop um uh CPI. It should not be no longer be two and a half. It is burdening every community dan only by the I was going to say by the grace of God have we not had an override, but it's actually to a detriment to this town not to be able to
afford the things we should be able to afford. We we allow we can afford to maintain. we're not uh can't afford to evolve very much. So, whatever special legislation or whatever uh memorandum of understanding or
support, whatever you're going to look for from this board, I will tell you I won't vote for anything that does not have clear guidelines on how much you're going to go over two and a half and for how long. I want those guard rails. Um
and and and I realize this is not I'm this is not you who's c but this is the effect every dollar that you go up our rate payers are going to go up and some of the estimates are more than double uh it will more than double our rateayers abilities now there's a separation
because we we're an enterprise fund uh our water sewer and electric are all municipal enterprise funds and so there is some distinction and separation but I don't know how I'm going to tell the um the the citizens of the town that their their sewer and water bill is going to
double and it's it's it's it's I don't know how we're going to do that. So, not only in the crafting of the legislation that you're looking for to forego some amount of two and a half, I would hope that the special legislation also allows for some relief to the towns that it
gets pushed down to the towns that um we aren't that in some manner or shape or form, we're allowed to go above, you know, the borrowing we're going to have to do for our portions is allowed to be outside the two and a half constructs. I
don't want to use the term override or or or or debt exclusion, but in in theory, how can Damverse accept the service increase, support your need for operational and capital
improvements, but also not unduly affect our ability to provide services, not just water and sewer and electric, but all our other services, school, police, fire, everything else by draining off that amount of money to support you. I'm
not saying we shouldn't support you. I'm saying we should find a mechanism to minimize the impact. Uh I've floated a few ideas. I know the town manager is going to be talking to our uh our financial people and engineering people. I don't actually have any issues with the engineering part of this. I'm I I
feel very confident that the need is there that it's not overbuilt or over you're not over consuming. Um, it's now about financing and how we get the financing right for the citizens of the town. Whether it's we are allowed outside our enterprise fund cap to go
above that cap and start building up a stabilization fund, whatever it could be, there are several opportunities. But if we need to go to special legislation for that, I would want your your foray into special education to include that for the cities and towns.
>> Okay? I don't want to fight. I don't want to be one of the number of communities fighting individually with the legislation to get relief when this is really relief that we need because of your need. >> Sure. >> Um so um uh and the reason is we need to
we we we have to budget our very tight budget um with with consistency and predictability. And if you don't have those controls and all of a sudden a new because you've only outlined the $390 million for phase one and two, I'm
presuming phase two and three I mean three and four are equal if not higher. And maybe you can tell me no. No. No. We anticipate them to be lower. But >> No, we don't. >> But you don't. >> Yeah. No. >> So we're now talking about an $800 million I'm Yeah. an eight or $900
million project over the course of the time frame. I know diving it up is short-term borrowing and you know and and we should participate in that those borrowing discussions 10 year 20 year 30-year borrowing and what the impacts are and do you pre-barorrow for some
later because you have favorable uh uh uh interest rates at the points that you do. So my focus will be on how you're going to help minimize the impact on the cities and towns and support special legislation not only to get you around
the two and a half limit but allow Damverse and the other communities to not feel that effect directly. um that we can that there are ways of mitigating that cost to us because your two and a half
circumventing two and a half is only pushing it downstream for a lack of a better you know for you know or upstream okay upstream but you're push you're just looking to get around borrowing >> you're not looking to get around who's
going to pay the bill and it's going to be the communities >> it's the nature of the beast and it's not a it's I'm not knocking you or the SCSD I think you provide a value service, but that's the reality of what you're proposing to do. So, thank you. >> That's good, Gonna. Thank you. Um, Dan,
>> thank you. Uh, welcome. >> Thank you. >> I've been here 18 years. I've never seen anybody from SD come and make a presentation to us. Where were you five years ago when you started anticipating these problems, giving us a heads up? They'd be work find a way to increase
our assessments a little bit to put it away for a Randy Day fund. Now you're here at the last minute with your hat out because you need special legislation. This time of the year, you're not going to get it. It's going to be next year, I would assume, before
any bill is examined, looked at, and brought out of committee. if he even gets out of committee. You've got a tough tough project to uh fund. Um why are the other resources exempt from two
and a half and you're not? >> I I think for the ones that I identified there were probably a different reason for each one. Um, Springfield probably falls into the category of uh they
operate under an enterprise fund and and as I mentioned a lot of communities that have their own plants operate under an enterprise fund so they're not subject to two and a half. Um, I don't I don't know the history of the MWR
and how they ended up with budgets that exceed 2.5%. And as I mentioned, the small district uh someone writing that legislation had recognized that 2 and a half just doesn't work and um and exempted that
district from it. So, different reasons. Yes. Sorry. Yes. If you could explain, it's in the enabling legislation that created Proposition 2. >> Excuse me. That created SCSD SCSD is treated as a
>> Sally, you want to go up >> and and board members, if you have specific questions for it's this isn't questions for the public. Um, however, but if board members have specific questions for Sally or Steve, that can be allowed. Thank you.
Um, Sally Karns, state representative, um, 13th Essex District. Thank you all for being here. Thank you. Um, and Steve King, the amazing Steve King, is sort of the face of SCSD because he's our representative on the SCSD board. It
used to be Rick Rogers going way back in the wayback machine. Um, just wanted you to clarify that the legislation that created the South Essex Sewage District in 1925 created it as though it is a
municipality. That is why it is subject to the constraints of Prop 2 and a half. Yes. No. >> I think that I have >> There was no two and a half in 1925. >> I think so. >> There was no two and a half in 1925. No, there wasn't. No,
>> municipality. It's it very definition is why it's subject. >> Okay. It's it's my understanding and you referenced uh Proposition 2 and a half being enacted in the 1980s and it did not include a reference to an
entity like South Essex. So, there was follow-up legislation. How am I doing? Say, "Hey, coaches." follow-up legislation that specifically was specifically focused on districts and and that's why we fall under Prop 2
and a half is my understanding and perhaps MWA is not considered a district. It's an authority >> balls outside. >> All right. So, back to my comment is you're here now. Where have you been? This isn't just happen overnight.
30-y old project uh plant. We understand it's outdated. You need to do a lot of work and it's how are you going to convince the communities that it's the right thing to do? It's not the wrong thing to do, but how do we convince our communities?
You know, two and a half I think only 41% of the bills filed for two and a half in the communities have passed. 59% haven't passed. It's not a good record if you're looking to overcome two and a half. >> Well, my answer to to that part is um
this is the only course of action that we thought had a chance of success and it and that is state legislation. Um, but we still need the assistance, the help of all the communities. And
what I heard from this gentleman is um, some extra thoughts that we'll take into consideration on how to formulate the legislation to maybe address some of your concerns. Um, but that's the best we can do right now. >> Um, I'm not knowledgeable enough about
your operating budget and the debt and all that. I mean, I try to read this every year. Uh, again, nobody comes and explains it to us and allows us to ask questions. So, I'm not versed enough to be able to ask intelligent questions
other than say, "Where have you been?" And good luck. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Dian T. >> Yeah. Um, thank you for the presentation and and for the work that you and your staff do
to um on behalf of our community. Um I understand the importance of maintaining safe and you know updating
all the infrastructures especially you know with their ages. Um at the same time as we all know residents are under some true financial
stress. So my thought is it's important that we find a way to educate the residents, the public so that we
understand the need uh for this to to move so we fully understand the need for this to move forward and the impact that it will have if we do it or if we don't do it. Um, it's a tall order at
the 11 hour, but I think that is where I I feel like that's where we're going to need a lot of work. Um, when I look at I I had a few notes on the presentation. So
when I look at the last slide or the second to last one just before the thank you you had like a plan of action there like a proposed timeline. Yes. The proposed timeline that started January there was obtain member community
support and we wanted to find to file the legislation in May. Why is May? So I got that maybe from January to May were you going to other communities or is that
what was happening or and then there was also a slide where you said there were some um community you you you you met with some community leaders. How how did that happen and when did
that happen and who were those people that were involved in this educational process? So, um back in December, we started uh with a with a meeting with
the state legislative dele delegation that covers the sewer district. And uh it was recommended that we then move on to meeting with community leaders um such as the town manager uh mayors.
Um they were able to bring in uh key community officials but we wanted to avoid the open meeting law challenges of having city councilors and boards of
selection at the meeting. So we we did that meeting in January and uh the input that we received uh caused us to rethink our approach. Um and in fact the community leaders were looking
for controls over u our request. We were actually asking for unlimited relief from two and a half and they came back and said no we need controls. That took some time for us to figure out what the what form the controls might be
and and that's how we ended up with that slide that we put up there. >> We then intended to start meeting with the communities in February and March. Um but as uh board members went back to their communities and talked about this
issue, it was clear that there were a lot of unanswered questions and uh we weren't ready to make these presentations. And that's when I said this whole process took a lot longer than we thought it would. And so that's
how we ended up here. Um so uh the the community presentation piece started I guess in April >> and then uh will be done as I said in the middle of May.
>> Um so thank you. Now, when I look at the slide that talks about the Sentinel plan and you have the pro the priority groups one through four. >> Mhm. >> In the 1990s when they did the when they
did the update, did they have anything like that? Did they projected any update coming down the pipeline and have like how it will be funded? uh how uh capital improvement will happen or
are we just starting that now? >> Well, so in the 1990s um the the background is the level of treatment that was being provided at that point in time was called it was the first level of
treatment. We call it primary. there was no secondary treatment where you really make great steps to purify the water. And so they had in front of them at the time, I think it was a $250 million
program to upgrade the old plant and expand the plant to provide this secondary level of treatment. And I would have to say, not being in this position back then for sure, that um
their sole mission was to get that project complete. And when it was completed in the late 90s, the treatment plant, a lot of it was essentially new. Some of the pipelines certainly were old and are much older now, but all the most of the equipment
was was new. And so there was uh in hindsight a sigh of relief. >> Um plus we had a large debt to pay off and we had the limits of Proposition 2 and a half on our operating budget. And so that all fit together and that that's
why those assessments stayed level. But um I think that's what happened back then. And it was I don't know three years ago when we hired the consultants. So maybe our director at the time, Dave Michaelelsson, started to think that we
needed to come up with a 20-year plan and got the board to the board agreed to it. And so we started our work three or four years ago, but um it it took a while to get all the work done and to come up with this four four-step
program. >> Thank you. And have you considered separating the capital aspect with the operation? I mean this is a big price track. So is that something you've look into if
we did only capital improvement now and operational improvement later or it has to they have to go together? >> I really think they have to go together. um operating if if you were to say what's the most important it's certainly
the operating budget once we take the bids I keep saying it over the for the residuals and we are stuck with that what we believe will be a very significant increase um without adequate funds to operate the
plant and to continue to try to maintain it uh we can't do our job >> now that being said at the same time our old equipment gets older and older and so it it's it to me it's not an eitheror
proposition. We really need to be working on both and uh and that's the challenge obviously. >> Okay. Um yeah, I I think I think the key here like I said before is going to be educational. Mhm.
>> I I mean I we all flush and we have no idea what happens after that, right? So >> learning more about this and it's it's it's impressive the works that happened behind the scene. Uh
I had no idea and I can just imagine other people out there being like what are you talking about? We thought you threw everything in the ocean or incinerate or something. Right. So um
having some guard rails will be helpful as well. Uh I I think um but education is going to be key. How does that happen? Um
what is the proper format or the proper way? But I think people will need to understand the why cuz it's urgent. It has to happen. It will happen one way or another. Uh easy
way or the hard way. But I think if if we emphasize educating and and informing the public that will be helpful. Okay. >> All said. >> Excellent. Thank you and thank you for your presentation and uh I go along with
um my board members with the education why now the big price the financials that Gardner has pointed out that we'd like to see and um Jill can you tell us when they would be coming back again um we that's something that the board
will decide um I think as the chairman said they are going to bring the feedback they have two more communities um to meet with take the feedback that they receive from all of the boards and and um councils. They will that way we'll see what their final resolution
that they're bringing forward to you. So, I don't know yet. Um I'm going to assume in June. >> Well, probably July. >> Will that will that be a presentation of the special legislation they're going to be asking for? >> That's
>> is that the intent that we're signing off on? what what I believe what the request is to the board will be to the board will be to um um support a vote in favor or against but obviously they're looking for in favor of a resolution for them to
proceed um to the state legislature and request the legis uh special legislation be filed. So I I my understanding is that they are trying to get that special legislation correct and meet as many of the um asks of the member communities as
possible. So, you will have that legislation in front of you. Um, yes, whether it's um the chairman or or Steven representing the board to help answer questions. Um, Stephen will obviously be here. Um, Rodney will be here. I do want to comment that Kohley Rebecki, our chair of our water and
sewer board, is also in attendance. Um, they have been to the water and sewer board as well. Um, so obviously there's there's a few players in this, but my understanding the ultimate question is support for resolution to pursue special legisl legislation.
>> Okay. If I might miss, madam chair, I add another point. >> Go ahead, Ghana. Sure. >> Like I said, the things I'd want to see in this special legislation you're going to propose is your defined controls. >> Mhm. um some methodology of passing some of that relief down down to the cities
and towns to allow us relief from the new bill. Um whether it's, you know, our ability to bill outside two and a half or uh in our case where, you know, where we might want to um our our cap on
retained earnings might be raised so that we don't run into state laws that prohibit us from going above retained earnings caps that we have. The other thing I'd like to see and I'm asking this of Essex Tech and I'm going to talk to my stage legislators as well is if you get grants or some other
monies that you did not anticipate some form of funding that wasn't baked into this with the presumption you're going to have to borrow everything. If you get something I want to see that relief go back to the cities and towns as opposed to additional operational increases or
projects. You have a list. you have a a punch list of projects you want to do and you left some of these operational projects aside because you can't afford them right now. >> What I want to know is if the federal government, the state government, if someone gives you a bucket of money to
support your needs, that that bucket of money is actually then redistributed back or reduced back to the cities and towns as opposed to, oh, let's add these other three things that we've left on the side >> into the plan. I want and I'm not saying it has to be 100% but the consideration
has to be that if you get extra funding that you're not budgeting in here >> that that actually is to the benefit of your supporting communities directly as opposed to just more capital improvements. And I I support capital improvements. Our our schools are aging.
>> Our facilities are aging. We would love to have a new DPW building. We've been fighting one for decades. and new costs keep delaying those things. So, I'd like to see that part of your plan. Thank you. >> Excellent. I think that's a good point,
G. And uh we also have um more time will allow us to talk more with Representative Karns and with our DPW director um so we have more information. Okay. Did you >> uh if if I may? >> Yes, go ahead. >> Uh yeah, just an additional question
here. uh has any effort been made uh so far to control reduce cost and or improve efficiency before we get to this level.
So the the biggest change and it it's taken place over 20 years is uh our staff count has been reduced by 11 11 >> I I don't have you can tell I don't have
the exact number uh a significant reduction in staff over over the last um 15 to 20 years. Um that's one uh we in we uh
uh uh constructed it's called a combined heat and power uh system and what it allows us to do is uh combust natural gas to generate electricity and then take advantage of
the waste heat for all our heating requirements at the plant. So, it was a big energy efficiency project um that had a a reasonable payback period. And um and I also referred to um energy
improvements of all kinds uh motors for we have some motors of all sizes, some huge motors and and we've moved to make those more efficient. So with over the last 10 15 years we've done a
significant number of projects to try to make us more efficient. Um uh that some of the real keys come in residuals processing. I keep coming back to that. 30 years ago we we installed
equipment that squeezes the water out of the residuals as much as you can. Well, the equipment that's available today does a better job. The more water you squeeze out of the material, the less it weighs and we
pay by the ton. So, so there's a great opportunity, but it might take $30 million to replace that equipment. Now, there's a payback period, but we can't consider it unless we have debt relief. >> Okay. So we've done things like
>> answer is yes you've done and and I think in the educational aspect those are important things to point out. Uh >> these are some of the steps that we've taken >> to not only decrease cost but to improve efficiency
before we got to this level where we're kind of like stuck. >> Um speaking of education, sorry I come back. Is there a plan? Do do you have like a plan? uh to educate and engage the public or are you thinking of doing
one or >> Well, the work that we've done so far um and it just happened within the last week is we have a press release that's gone out to uh media outlets and nonprofits that are
interested in the environment. And so we've taken that first step. The staff also attends uh school events. It's not it's not a it's it it's not a comprehensive
approach I I would say, but anytime there's an opportunity or a fair or something, we're there. Um and that's something we haven't done in our history. Um so we've started doing a number of those things and and Dave Dave Michaelelsson were here tonight, he
could speak to those. he's been in directly involved in those. We have a woman that's involved in community relations and we're asking her to take on some of those. But um beyond that, we don't have a higher level more comprehensive plan in place yet, but I
hear what you say tonight. So yeah, we'll give it >> and even regular updates in the future will like the member Bennett was saying, will be very helpful. Last question for me. Um, help me out here. I'll get home, my neighbor will knock on the door or
see me at Market Basket. D, my water is going to go up 400%. What What are you guys doing over there? Help me talk to that neighbor. What do I say? How do I educate that neighbor? >> Well, I don't know where the 400% comes
from. No, I I'm just I mean I'm not saying that >> I'm just I just made that up, but I'm just saying like >> I Yeah, probably sorry somewhere. But >> well, >> that was hypothetical. >> It will be now. >> Yeah, I I know. But this is what's going
to happen, right? because >> there's going to be misinformation, misunderstanding, and >> and I'm just trying to find ways to be able to break it down elevator pitch.
I can't just say you're lying, but h what advice do you have for us as we navigate these challenging times? Well, I think first um we need to get you >> um more precise numbers on the impact to
this community. >> Okay. >> And um >> for example, the Collins Center came back and their estimate was over 10 years uh the assessments would double over 10 years. >> Okay.
>> Um that's in general. The impact on communities is different because we have facilities that serve Danvers and Beverly only that those two communities pay for. But the other three don't. And when
Marbleheads pipeline broke 10 or 12 years ago on the harbor and they had to spend $10 million, only Marblehead paid for it. So, so I'm only mentioning that because an overall assessment of of the impacts
is is somewhat different than the community level impacts and that's what we need to get to you. >> But >> that would that would definitely be helpful because um again that goes to some of the guardrails that select board
member trust was saying. I think having that information will be helpful for us and helpful for our residents, right? >> And and I support the education. Oh, I I I would like a little bit cynical that no matter how much you educate people,
they're not going to be happy about a 100% increase in 10 years if if we go with that number. >> So, but I also hear if we're going to I'm I'm thinking now out loud that if we're going to have we should have some community workshop about this. And if we
do, I'm gonna expect SCSD to deliver the message. And because it is we again, we're up. We're just paying the bill that you're going to be charging us. And so, you know, one of the important things I didn't hear tonight, which I thought I thought was an important fact
when I heard it, maybe it's not, is that the co your operating costs increase also because your operating your disposal has changed. Maine's going away. It's no longer an opportunity. So those kind of things people can reconcile. Oh, if I've got to ship this
to the Midwest as opposed to a state over, of course costs go up. That's something I can I can put in context. And you might want to consider that as part of the discussions that you have with the other communities. But if we have a community uh session on this,
I'll be wanting the SCSD to present it. And I think that with the adviserss you have, with the consultants you have, you should be able to provide the opportunity to understand each of the five communities costs >> trended over 10 years or 20 years or the
the life of this 800 plus million dollar project. >> So >> yeah, can I add a comment? >> Yeah, >> thank you. um to De's point about um and yours about breaking down the cost of the communities on page 16 of your
report um the assessment payments canvas is number two ahead of Beverly and Salem as far as >> um the assessment >> a different report >> debt service pay that's debt service
payments >> oh >> the budget yeah >> it's just the looking through the budget as I We've never had an explanation on this budget. I looked through it tonight and earlier things jumped out at me that made no sense, but I don't know how to ask the question.
>> Do you want to try it? >> Sweet. >> Good evening. One through you, Madam Chair. Uh Steve King, uh director of public works, town of Danvers. Uh so essentially when you re when you receive your budget book, um each fiscal before the start of the next fiscal year, those
assessments are based on flows and loads. And I think we've talked about that a little bit at our at our budget meetings um year-over-year. So, uh SCSD does a very, uh thorough job of looking at and assessing how much flow and the quantity and concentration of flow that's coming from each of the
communities into the plant. That is then deciphered into specific sections of how much you owe on your assessment, how much they have to work to treat your own waste water coming into the plant. So, that's why sometimes your assessments can change. We could be second, we could be third, we could be fourth um during certain years if and that's why we also
work on doing a lot of those lining projects because we're trying to reduce the amount of flow going to SCSD. So we're trying to reduce our cost as much as possible. So um that's why it can change year-over-year. >> Okay. Another piece for education. Thank you. >> Definitely maybe having >> lucky to have you Steve to explain that.
That's good. >> Yeah. >> Very good. Um I know that this is not a public hearing, but I am going to allow um our water and sewer board member to go up and just comment if you'd like. Coley, thank you.
>> Coley Ray Bicki, chairman, dear water and soar. Um before I get to the comment I was going to make to help Steve's argument what they just talked about in terms of the es and flows to give you an example that you may have seen in the paper over the last couple years. Peodyy had the old Eastman Kodak Rousellet
plant close. So that datically impacted the ES and flows coming out of PED into the plant. So this is why that number changes quite a bit. Um, the comment I was going to make, this is the second time I've been through this
presentation and the third time I've been through it taking a look at it at home. But what struck me tonight, um, I keep hearing this common theme about we're dealing with 30-y old equipment, the plants getting old, you've got a 100-y old pipe out into the harbor. So,
my question is, is where has management? And I would think that somewhere along the line you would do a planned obsolescence and would be refreshing some of this equipment. It just seems like all of a sudden we're here at this 30-year point and it's
pardon my French, the stuff's hitting the fan. Um, but I I I just want to understand that how come we're in this predicament now? So, first, it would have been ideal if we could have made those improvements in
a planned way before we got to this point. I don't argue that for one second. Um, but we didn't have budget authority to do it. So, um it could very well be that we should
have come before you 15 years ago when the when the equipment was not had not aged out and asked for more money. Um, I suspect I won't speak just in generalities that might not have been wellreceived
that we didn't have a particular need back then. And and we're in this cycle where because of what was done in the 90s, everything was new. It all lasted about the same amount of time and now we
have to do it again. And uh I wish we didn't but that's that's what we're facing at the moment. Um, we did do some, as I mentioned in that bar chart, that stacked bar chart early on there
was money available each year to do critical repairs and we did those. But, um, other than that, it was the the limits of two and a half prevented us from spending more.
to that point and we can't go back to in the past >> but I'll tell you and you should be considering this when you're considering your legislation a 10% increase every every year for 10 years certainly more palatable than 100% increase in one year. So, as you plan out your debt,
>> as you plan out your fees, consider spreading spreading it over time because obviously history has proven that not doing that is going to be far more costly. Um, as far as public perception as well as not just just numbers. I
don't I wouldn't want to be in Kohley's position when this actually hits and someone says, "Why am I why is my rate going up 60 80%." And why not? Why couldn't it have been spread? And we're looking, my recommendation is allow us to set some
sustainability funding now to spread, you know, and spread that out. We may go artificially above the the cost, but we're building up stability funds to minimize the impact when it does hit. >> Okay. and and this side sorry madam
chair and this might be so it's it's it's clear that it's something to consider also is to be able to articulate at what point did the district became aware of this financial pressure
um I think that's important um because like uh he said I mean 30 years what happened between then I'm sure at some point it may have been 3 years ago when you did the study. I I don't know. But that will also be
something important to articulate to put everything into a good context and have kind of like a totality of evidence approach. >> Okay. >> Excellent. Well, you heard what we had to say. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. I see the note taker. Thank you very much for taking
down notes. Um board members, we have a lot of work, a lot of a lot of good questions, a lot of things that we want to dive into. Uh we'll be talking with our town manager and our DPW director, our state rep, and our board um water and sewer board. But thank you. Do you have anything to say, Jill?
>> Yeah, I just want to say thank you for being here tonight. Um I tooured the plant early on in in my tenure here. Um having come from a municipality that has um their own plant, but that's in the primary position, I um is still in a primary situation and is now under
consent agree to be into to move into secondary SCSD is far beyond um and they're doing a great job. I agree that these are are costs that feel unpalatable unpalatable and and the impact on our residents is huge. We have
to take it very seriously and find ways to um level out and try to um smooth out the kind of impact. Uh but it is critical. Um I've again unfortunately in my career been talking about the cost of flushing for quite some time. Um, so it
is something that as I think we really do need to start talking about more. Um, and I do want to thank um, Steve and Rodney have both Steve King and Rodney Connley um, and myself have been on meetings uh, with this group and meetings with the other communities um, putting a lot of pressure. Steve and and
Rodney and myself advocate incredibly well for this community. Steve has taken a deep dive into every one of these projects and timelining it out into a way that it's the work is done when it needs to be done, not not necessarily sooner. And Rodney has offered the board
um numerous suggestions on how to um craft the legislation so that it controls cost to the community. So, our team is on it and Rep. Karns has been I think this is probably her second at least of these presentations at city council but of the actual presentation
it's probably five or six. Um so she has been um an ally in this and I didn't know madam chair if you wanted to if reps had anything else you wanted to add. Um >> would you like to sally say anything else? >> Thank you for coming. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the
presentation again. Um the numbers are quite shocking and I think when we had the first meeting among the legislative delegation we were all feeling stunned wondering how did this happen?
Um and I in a way we're kind of in a situation where things roll along the way they should. The SCSD board meets they do their budgets. our water commissioners do their budget and their work and in a way that we're just too
siloed to really have paid close enough attention, but um I appreciate that the district has recognized the need to amp up the public education. Um it's very hard to get our minds around it. I couldn't agree more,
Gardner. like 10% a year would have been so much better. But here we are and I fully intend I know that we all will in the legislative end of things be looking for controls. We are discussing maybe separating
operating from I know that's not you're not a fan of that. Um the amount that we authorize in this uh how much it could exceed that has to be looked at and considered. Um, Senator Lovely is fully
in this conversation and discussion. She's away today, but um, and Steve has been great and Rodney, I mean, we we and Jill as well. So, I know you're all thinking, how'd we get here? Well, there is a
story to how and now we have to find our way along and mitigate the impact of these rate increases on people really on particularly people on fixed incomes. Um we have to find a way through
the revolving fund loans. There is um some a small amount of state aid for for rate relief that I'm looking into. We're going to have to have all of that. It it will take a full uh and I think
Dan said it it is now May. Our session ends on July 31. Um but you're going to complete your discussions. We're going to see what we can craft and um if you know we can
might file it now or might decide it's best to wait in January when things are more settled and we're not in a massive push of legislation that's been in the pipeline so to speak for a year and a
half. Um so thank you all for the thank you for the conversation and the um attention that you've given to it and thanks to all of you for hearing it all in the spirit of how can we solve this together for the people
that we all represent and be responsible. And I actually did want to ask the town manager if we were to not do anything. We could end up in a consent decree situation and then it won't be our
timeline. We won't be stretching out debt. We will it will be more expensive and more painful. Am I right? >> You were correct. >> Yeah. So I think that that is a point that we can't lose sight of as well. Um okay. So thank you all. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank
you. All right. Town manager will report to the board on various items of interest. Miss town manager kind of wish I reorganized this. Um but we the order of things. Um I want to
point out thank you madam chair and thank you to all the board members who um are here tonight and for SCSD for joining us. Steve Runny, the representative. Thank you, Coley. Um, first I just want to point out I shared with the board and it's on our website the monthly planning uh permitting
update for May. Um, I I've heard questions here often on on what's happening in those permitting boards. So, I just want to highlight that and try to make sure you highlight it for you all and the public um that that's available on the planning and economic development page. Um highlights also um
recently announced um starting it started on Monday. Some paving and road work uh milling began on Monday. Uh Buer Road, Gate Street, Ray Street, Ralph Road, and Palmer Avenue. Um the schedule is obviously weather permitting. So a
heads up that that is coming. Um you all also received from me this week an update on the Conance Street work. Um, National Grid is doing work on Conant Street, um, Conan Street, Berry Street, Alden Street, and Park Street beginning
on Sunday, May 10th. Um, it's anticipated to continue for approximately 12 weeks after the start date, weather permitting. Conan Street work will occur overnight, Sunday through Thursday, 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. And all of the streaks work will occur Monday through Friday, 700 a.m. to 3:00
p.m. Police details will be on site during construction hours to assist residents around the neighborhood. If you have questions, they you should reach out to National Grid Community Coordinator at 978-7251328. And this release was put out on our socials and is on our website if you're
looking for more information on that. Um I also want to make sure residents are aware of that we recently moved into a level six water restriction. um beginning on May 1st, the town is required to implement these restrictions
um by the state due to the reservoir levels in the Ipsswitch River flow. This means no outdoor water use is allowed. I I actually want to highlight especially in light of the conversation around public education. Um during our community roundts last year, I heard
many many concerns around water usage. Uh so one of the next steps and uh representative Karns is a great partner on this as well. I think this is another area that we could use some additional public education. Uh so we are in um this summer's kind of version of
community roundts will include some deeper conversations on multiple topics but one of them is water culminating really with a kind of community conversation late summer probably early fall. Um, but you will see a lot more of
us talking about the work that we're doing with the Northshore Water Resource Task Force. I want to the R what's that resiliency task force. Um, the work we're doing with them, the work we do internally for conservation. So, uh, we're going to start talking water more
and the impact um, actually Cole and I talked about this today, the impact on um, on dams by the state permits and things like that that are issued. Sure, Madam Chair. >> Sure. >> You Madam Chair,
>> uh I'm so glad you brought up the water work of the Northshore Drought Resiliency Task Force. This is a pretty extraordinary uh process that has been going on. Um, Senator Bruce Tar got it going um, six
years ago and it convenes um, all the communities in the Ipsswitch River watershed focusing on how can we reduce usage, conserve, how can we protect the watershed, ensure that we have enough
safe drinking water and how can we regionalize because we don't like regionalization in our state. We don't do that. We like everybody wants their own deal. So this has been a very u painstaking process to get every
community to say okay we are part of this pact if you will signed on to a charter and the constraints that are faced by lower basin communities which is sort of what we are >> we are yeah >> um are are very real and it's very
different for Beverly Salem and of course Beverly Salem gets their water from us uh so it's It's really important work and my hope is that we are heading towards a um an agreement that will
allow usage to be m to be managed enough uh and that we can conserve and we can find ways of ensuring supply ensuring safe drinking water. That's always safety
first. But um I just want you all to know that you know Danver is at the table every single time. Um all of us all of these communities and Steve does a ton of work. Um so you cannot permit him. I don't please don't let him not
continue to come to the drought management task force meetings because it's very very important work and he's a leader in it. So I just want you all to know that that's happening. So thank you. >> Yeah absolutely. I like I said I think this is um speaks to the same thing. we need to um make sure is be as
transparent as possible with the public and provide as many opportunities for people to come and engage with us and our team to learn about what we're doing. So um wanted to add that in there. Um I wanted to announce that the that Danvers has been named a 2025 Tree
City USA recognition um again this year um by the Arbor Day Foundation. I think um it is something we should be very proud of and the town celebrates Arbor Day each year. I attended the Arbor Day celebration at Smith School
two Fridays ago. It'll be three Fridays ago tomorrow. Um it was an incredible fun event. Um I want to thank the garden Danver's garden club. They bagged I think over 300 seedlings um to go home with the students to plant. Uh the DPW
uh was on site as we planted a tree at Smith School. They actually planted two. Um so the DPW grounds crew was on site. They were incredible as well. Um and the Smith School administration teachers and most importantly the kindergarters who sang a very important tree song for us.
Um and then helped fill in the dirt. Um so so thank you to everyone involved in Arbor Day and congratulations to everyone in Danvers for being a tree city. Uh events coming up. We have town meeting on May 18th. I look forward to seeing everybody there. I want to thank
the finance committee and our finance director, Rodney Connley. We had a successful um two weeks of budget and warrant review and the select board members. Each of you um spend an evening with us. So, thank you. Um I think that was uh there was some important dialogue
um throughout those meetings and so we're looking forward to going to town meeting. Uh the Memorial Day parade which uh reminds me that it's my one-year anniversary is coming up next week. Uh these are a few of the first things I did when I started. Memorial
Day parade is on Monday, May 25th. Starts at 9:00 a.m. at the Holton Richmond Middle School. ceremony to follow at approximat approximately 10:00 a.m. also at the middle school. Um that also means town hall will be closed on Monday, May 25th for Memorial Day. I
also handed out to you all um and there's some in the back for those who are left in the room. Um the Danver's wreck has announced their summer concert series and their summerlong programs. Um lots of good stuff coming up through our incredible recreation department. So
please check it out. It's on our website. It's on Facebook. It's everywhere. And there's flyers um in town hall in the recreation department. And and ask your your select board members because they have it all now, too. Um and then I want to say a couple
thank yous. Uh this past weekend, DPW hosted the uh recycling event and the rain barrel pickup. Again, in incredible amount of work. Um the people, the way people come through that event um is amazing. It's a welloiled machine at this point. and the increase. And so at
the very end of um you bring your car full of things to recycle and drop off and then if you've ordered rain barrels, that's then at the end you pick up your rain barrels. Um we we distributed an additional 50 rain 50 some rain barrels. I think it was around 180 rain barrels.
So um when you're announcing a a water restriction and and handing out rain barrels at the same time, it feels like we're doing something right. Um so if you if you're not part of that program, um look into it. Um, it's a really important piece of water conservation and thank you to the DPW team for
participating and the residents who come and and help us conserve water and recycle materials. And finally, I want to congratulate Madame Clerk and her office on a successful election and congratulate everyone on re-election and and new election. Um, I had the
opportunity to visit the voting um the polling place at Danver High School. was incredible to see the number of community members involved in that process. Um, also a welloiled machine and thank you very much for um, making it look easy for the rest of us, Madame Clerk. And if you have anything you
wanted to add to that, I'm I'm wrapping up. >> I'd love to. Thank you. Um, so our office has finalized the results and they can be found on the town's website under the town clerk section under election results. I just want to take a minute to thank um all the pole workers,
the wardens, the assistant wardens, police department, school department, DPW, the IT department, um the team in the clerk's office, Corey Grace for helping with the results, the registars, um everyone knows their piece and and it's so important that we all work so
well together as a team and that really shows when things go smoothly. uh and the next election we can look forward to September 1st which is the state primary and then November 3rd which would be the state election. Uh anybody has any questions they can certainly reach out
to our office. Thank you. >> What was the turnout? >> Oh the turnout I have that. Hang on. >> The turnout was 6.9%. Um, so we had 1,567 voters
and that's all I have. >> What is the nor >> I think that's a little bit high for a local which is kind of surprising considering the the items on the on the ballot, but that's about average. >> Excellent. Anything else, Joe?
>> That's it. Thank you so much. >> All right. Thank you. Um, Gardner, did you >> I haven't gotten any correspondence. Before the closing comment, I can ask a question to the town manager. >> Uh, just a quick question about the >> I messed up. Yeah. >> The road work
or what shut off and things like that. >> Um, I know this the texting to inform people. >> Yes. What is the best way for residents to be aware of the fact that their street is going to be closed?
>> So they first and foremost the most important thing is to go on our website and I'm going to get it wrong if I look if I don't look it up. Um and I just sent this to a resident the other day. Go on our website and sign up for notifications. Um so when we anything that our DPW is doing you will get
directly notified. Um it comes and you can choose text, email, phone. Um so there's so anytime and the select board members know this. Anytime they bring me a resident question about they didn't know, I said sign up, sign up, sign up, sign up, sign up. Um I can't say that enough. Um the when it's national grid
work, they are also required to send letter notification to the affected residents. Um Representative Karns had we had discussed we had an issue that we worked on together on this. Um they also do door hangers um for people that are
going to be uh affected. But most first and foremost always cuz I know not everybody's on social media, but it's all out there too and it's all on our website. But if you if you go for the one time sign up, if you're not on social media and you want to come into town hall, we will help you get signed up. Um that notification is is
critically important and that and it becomes critically important if there's ever um hopefully not an emergency. Um it's crucial. We need as many people as possible signed up for those services notifications. >> So, and that's only for cell phone. I no landline. >> I don't know that answer. It should be
able to Yeah, I was going to say I haven't >> I do have a landline and yes, you do get notifications on a landline. >> Okay. Now, is there a way to And this is just me thinking aloud. I I I didn't think about it until you mentioned the road work because there's one starting
on the 10. Today's the seventh, right? So, is there a way for people to get an a notification to it asking them if they want to sign up instead of having them go to the website? >> We're not allowed to solicit that. So,
similar to um organizations that want to have you have to opt in. >> Okay. So, you cannot be solicited by us preemptively. >> They have to opt in. We can continue to send it out on social media with a link to opt in. Can we put it typically any public meetings we always um we have a
sign you know a board with a QR code we can encourage people to opt in but we can't solicit them too. Yeah. >> And then the door hanger do the people that do the work do they let us know uh what street they putting the door like
how do they decide where to >> I'd have to follow up on that question. That's um >> there's sometimes some adjacent streets that are not necessarily on the street that's doing the work that could also be impacted. >> Yeah. >> And it'll be important that that they know as as well.
>> I know that Steve uh the DPW director Steve King works very closely with National Grid when they're saying okay we want to do this and it goes there's the back and forth the back and forth of no you can't work at this time yes this time you should think about this. So I can bring that to his attention. >> Okay. And the last thing is uh I I saw
the note you sent about the national grid and if there was any questions contact national grid. Um I'm just wondering should the people contact us or contact >> contact national grid that they are
responsible for that work so they know whether it's happening that day or not happening that day based on whether they are responsible for securing um police details. So it is it is their work. Yeah. that has to contact National. You can call us, but we're um and we'll provide what information we have, but
we'll probably depending on what the question is, we probably would have to call National Grid. >> Okay. So, there's no need to add like contact National Grid or town hall. >> No, if you want the most effective line, straight line of communication, go to the source. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Excellent. Okay. The board will consider consent calendar items as they appear below. >> Wow. Okay. All in favor? >> I >> I Okay. Opposed. All right. This time, correspondent, select board, new business, previous business, new public
business updates, and select board closing comments. Gardner, >> I am all set. >> Wow. Okay. T. >> So, yeah, I have a few updates. Uh, first one, I attended the townwide cleanup. Was it last Saturday or >> two weeks ago?
>> Two weeks ago. >> Uh, so thanks to all the residents that showed up that morning. It was a beautiful day to be out. Um I was with the group at the senior center there. That little uh area there quite a
few empty bottle of something. I'm not going to say I had a I had a trash full of some empty bottles of some stuff. So it was it was great. So thanks to all the residents who participated in that. Um I think that was great. Um I also
attended the HRC meeting uh their last meeting. They have a few events coming up. Uh I don't have the exact dates but uh probably it's going to go on the town. >> You do? And I do have those dates. June 13th is the pride celebration starting here at town hall and moving to the
library. And June 18th is the Junth event. I just met with them today. That's why it's fresh. >> Okay. And there's one other pation the the th the first Thursday at the police station I think. >> Yes. I don't have information on that one yet. >> Okay. Um
the I also attended yesterday morning um at Essex Tech an information session about the school purchasing the Waco um building. Uh they had anformational session for the Abadas. Uh unfortunately
not many of them showed up. Uh but they were a couple and the the superintendent Dr. Richio and her staff did a very good job explaining uh the need for the space uh for office.
Uh we had uh discussion that range from what are they going to do there? Um and it's not really an expansion. Uh they're using it for for office space. Uh mainly uh we talk about parking on Preston. Uh
and they would do a they will they will do a better job communicating with the school and the parents making sure that they stop packing there. And we also talk about um increasing coordination during the winter storms. Uh I know this
year they did a much better job with clearing the sidewalk than previous years and and I hope that that continues. So I hope that the town manager and the superintendent there and our DPW continue to work together. Um
because their kids will walk down Preston Street to go to class and we want to make sure it's safe. Uh last but not least, congratulation to Madame Chair for your election. >> Um it was great and uh looking forward
to continuing to working with you at least for the next year and then we figure out after that. So thank you. >> Thank you Dan. >> Thank you. Um, on the Northshore Essex uh piece that D brought up, I did have some communication from a resident and I
trust she was at that meeting to get a questions answered because I couldn't answer them while um those correspondence I had. Um to recap kind of um as we come to the end of the fiscal year, the committees that I've
been working with in the town, one is the preservation commission and we did come up with a tweak for the demolition bylaw. We've we've already looked at that's article 14 on the warrant at town meeting and I hope that town meeting
supports that that change. It won't affect the uh the owners, but it'll make it easier for them to move forward through the process. Uh the affordable housing committee, we've been working on the housing production plan. I think planning will have a final look at it
shortly and it should come before us um in June at some point in time, I believe. So, we'll be able to look at that plan. Um well, not a town committee. I'm president of the friends of the Danvers Council on Aging and our responsibility and mission is to raise
funds to support programs and items that they need that's outside the budget. Um we have our annual meeting May 20th at 4:30 um to get an update from the director on what's happened this year and to
identify some funding possibilities for the senior center um and an election of offices and um that's open to the public 4:30 at the senior center on May 20. And after that, we'll go to the library for
the light the night purple walk that we just approved on the consent calendar that starts at 6:30. That's kind of a recap of what the my committees that I've worked on have done this year.
>> Excellent. Thank you. Um I just want to say thank you to everybody that voted for me. You get me for another three years. Thank you for all the candidates. Um, thank you for all the pole workers, the clerk, uh, the town manager. Thank you board members for allowing me to be your chair this year, too. I really
appreciate it. Thank you for the to the public, Bill, and for always coming to the meetings. Um, the other thing that I wanted to say is um, did we have a moment of silence for the trooper at all? >> You know, if you know, as everybody
knows, our trooper from Danvas um, you know, Kevin Kevin Trainer passed away. uh in the line of duty. I mean, it's horrible. I just I just drive going to work. I went over that bridge, you know, for that runway driver. Um and it
was it's just, you know, we just never forget his service, our our hearts, and um go out to his family and the whole really Damas community, too. I mean, the it's the Damas family, Preventure, um Barbara Preventure, and his mom. Yep.
and uh his fiance, brothers, sisters. Yep. Uh family members. Um you know, we all we we talk about the troopers, you know, our own fire firefighters and our own police departments that we stand beside them. They sacrifice
every day them. They put themselves in their f, you know, on the line to save us, right? To help us, sacrifice for us. So, I just wanted to um if we could just have a moment of silence for um Kevin Trainer
and um thank you very much board members and uh thank you Danvas and Dan, would you like to close it out for us tonight? >> Thank you. Yes. If and we're coming up on Memorial Day parade, it's more important at this time of year as well as the rest of the year to when you see
a vet, please say thank you to he or she her he or she for their service. Thank you. >> Thank you very much.